Saturday, November 3, 2007

Indo-Pak Guwahati ODI

ULFA not to disturb Indo-Pak Guwahati ODI:

Nov 3: Guwahati wants to bury the ghost of the last ODI it hosted as it prepares for the first match of the Indo-Pakistan cricket series on Nov 5.

Images of a burning stadium and helicopter hovering few feet over the wicket in a futile attempt to dry the moisture during last year's Indo-England match still haunts cricket lovers across India.

Assam Cricket Association (ACA) said tickets were sold out.

ACA is not taking any chances. They have put out advertisements pleading to the
militant group United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and students organizations not to do anything untoward during the match.

India have played eight matches here, winning four of them and losing three. One match against England was abandoned last year. But, they have never played against Pakistan on this ground.

ULFA said there was no security threat from them on the match.

Assam-Gujarat Plate Division Ranji match

Gujarat well placed against Assam in Ranji Trophy Day One

Ahmedabad, Nov 3:

Despite scoring just 228 runs in the first innings, hosts Gujarat were comfortably placed after sending back four top order batsmen of the visiting Assam team for just 56 runs on the first day of four-day plate division Ranji Trophy match at the Sardar Patel Guajrat Stadium at Motera near here today.

Gujarat, who are aiming to regain their berth in the Elite Group after being relegated to plate division on the basis of their dismal performance in last Ranji season of 2006-07, got into a comfortable position, thanks to their main strike bowler Siddharth Trivedi, who missed the last season due to injury.

The speedster took two early wickets to bring his side back into the game. Trivedi struck in the first over and claimed the wicket of S Bhagawati, Assam's opener, who was brilliantly caught by wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel when team's total was just two runs and his individual contribution was just one run.

As if this was not enough, second opener S Das also made an early exit, at the same score, when he was caught by Niraj Patel off the bowling of Makda.

At this point, Assam's scorecard read two runs for the loss of two wickets. Before the close of play, the visitors lost two more wickets -- N H Bordoloi, who was the second victim of Makda, and Tarjinder Singh, who fell prey to T K Patel. Bordoloi and Singh
made 13 and 19 runs respectively.

When stumps were drawn, the visitors were four down for 56 runs, with S Ramesh and S Sharath unbeaten on individual scores of 16 and zero respectively.

Earlier, Gujarat, who were asked to bat first by rival captain S Sharath, made a slow but steady start. However, debutant opener Hem Joshipura returned to pavilion when he was adjudged LBW off the bowling of S Suresh. His individual score was 14, while his team's total was 23. The other opener, Nilesh Modi, also made early exit by scoring just 17 runs.

Then skipper Parthiv Patel, along with Niraj Patel, gave some steadiness to Gujarat's batting. But at the team total of 88, Parthiv was caught by Singh off Goswami's bowling.
He made a personal contribution of 49 runs, while Niraj scored 31.

Other batsman who played significant innings for the hosts was Digant Popat who hit 63 runs. He was the only bastman to keep one end intact while witnessing the fall of wickets at the other end as Gujarat lost their four bastmen -- number seven to 10 – for just eight runs.

For the visitors, the most successful bowlers were K Das and S Suresh, who took four wickets each for 73 and 46 runs respectively. D S Goswami and A Konwar took one wicket each.

Earlier, both the teams introduced new faces in their squads. Wicket-keeper Rajdeep Das and K Das got their debuts while Gujarat included N Raval in their team.

The Teams:
Gujarat: N D Modi, H R Joshipura, Parthiv Patel (wk; captain), A M Makda, N Raval, M H Parmar, N K Patel, T K Patel, B D Thaker, S K Trivedi

Assam: S Sharath (captain), Rajdeep Das (wk), S Bhagawati, NH Bordoloi, K Das, S Das, DS Goswami, A Konwar, S Ramesh, S Suresh , Tarjinder Singh

Umpires: S L Dendapani, V N Kulkarni
Match Referee: S Chaturvedi

Sikkim Governor's Gold Cup

Punjab Police in semis:

Gangtok, November 2:

Punjab Police became the second team to earn a semifinal berth in the 29th All-India Governor’s Gold Cup, overcoming Mumbai United 6-5 in sudden death at the Paljor Stadium today.

The tie-breaker ended in a 4-4 draw, forcing the game to be decided in a sudden death. Both teams also scored their first sudden death penalty shots. In the second sudden death, Apparao Chiman’s shot was blocked by Punjab goalie Paramjit Singh, while Sandeep Singh ensured his team’s maiden entry into the last four with a deft placement.

Posted On: The Tribune

India-Pak Guwahati ODI

Organisers seek ULFA’s blessings:

Guwahati, November 2
In an unprecedented move, the Assam Cricket Association (ACA) has made an appeal to the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) among others to facilitate smooth holding of the November 5 Indian-Pakistan one-day international cricket match at the Nehru Stadium here.

In an appeal made through advertisements in local dailies here today, the honorary secretary of the ACA (organiser), Bikash Baruah made a fervent appeal to all the sports buffs and organisations, including the ULFA, to extend cooperation for smooth conduct of the match, the first one of the five-match Indian Oil Cup series between India and Pakistan.

The ACA official stated that Pakistan team will play its first ever match in Guwahati, the only ODI venue in the North East, and called upon every one concerned, including the proscribed militant group, to extend cooperation for holding of the match sans any hitch.

However, the ULFA had not issued any threat to disrupt the cricket match.

Meanwhile, the district administration has made elaborate security arrangement for holding of Indo-Pak cricket match. Heavy rush of spectators is expected given that all the tickets have been sold out.

Deputy Commissioner Avinash Joshi informed that the city has been divided into seven security zones in view of the cricket match. “All the sensitive areas in the city will be under surveillance and sparks are expected to fly during an India-Pakistan cricket match”, he told newsmen here.

Two companies of CRPF personnel will be deployed around the Nehru Stadium Cricket Complex while Assam Police Battalion personnel will be in charge inside the stadium. A Superintendent of Police will be responsible of security in and around the stadium.

The Indian and Pakistani cricket teams will arrive in the city on the eve of the match and will be lodged in two separate hotels in the city. Indian Team will be in Hotel Landmark located at the periphery of the stadium while Pakistan team will be hosted in Hotel Brahmaputra Ashok.

Two Additional Superintendents of Police will be put in charge of security in both the hotels. Entry to both the hotels will be restricted and special security pass will be required for the purpose.

Posted on: The Tribune

Friday, November 2, 2007

Assam’s record breaking swimmer to be felicitated

Bhargav Phukan, who broke two national swimming records and bagged three gold in the National School Games Swimming Competition held at Surat, Gujarat, recently will be felicitated by the Jorhat Swimming Society on Sunday (Nov 4).

Phukan is a student of the Jorhat Govt Boys’ HS & MP School and a trainee of Jorhat Swimming society.

He had smashed the national record in the 50-metre breaststroke event in the under-14 boys’ category to clinch his second gold.

Phukan had clocked 33.60 seconds to break the previous record set by J Agenshwa of Tamil Nadu in 2003.

The Jorhat lad claimed his first gold on October 25 in the 100-metre breaststroke event in the same category by clocking 1:15:97 minutes. He bettered the earlier record set by Sanjib Chatterjee (1:16:13 minutes) in 1997.

India-Pak Guwahati ODI

Punishment for spectators indulging in racist activities:

After a few bizarre incidents during the recent India-Australia series, the BCCI has taken the matter seriously and asked all the host associations for the forthcoming India and Pakistan series to take steps so that crowds could not take to any kind of racism activities.

The ICC has already fixed few rules and BCCI has informed them well in advance to the different state associations. According to the rules, the crowd would not be allowed to indulge in such activities and anybody found to be doing so would be immediately ejected from the ground.

Assam Cricket Association said that ejection from the stadium to life ban -- all could be applied on the spectators depending upon the nature of the activities.

“Whenever a spectator would make any racist comment or indulge in such activities during the match inside the ground, he would be ejected from the ground and detail information on him, including photographs, would be stored so that in future if the concern person indulged in similar activities, could face much bigger punishment would be meted out,’’ an Assam Cricket Association source said.

Source: The Sentinel

India-Pak Guwahati ODI

Cracker bursting around Nehru Stadium banned from Nov 4 to 6

Nov 2: The district administration has banned bursting of all kinds of crackers from November 4 to 6 in the area adjoining the Nehru Stadium at Guwahati.

It is for the first time India and Pakistan will face each other in an ODI in the city on November 5 and as the match between the two sides always generate extra tension, the administration doesn’t want to take any chance. Huge number of security personnel, including several top ranked officers, would be deployed inside and outside the ground. There would be strict vigil in the roads adjoining the Nehru Stadium also.

City SSP Surendra Kumar today said that the as per the security plan, except ticket holders, no one would be allowed to cross the Ulubari, Hazi Musafir Khana and Guwahati Club points on way to Stadium.

He said that the city would be divided into six security zones, depending on the movements of the players and officials. The six security zones include the airport, hotels and grounds.

The cricketers would stay in two separate hotels in the city and their rooms would be completely blocked to other visitors to the hotels. Security personnel would also be deployed at the main gates of the two hotels.

Motorcycle-borne security personnel will monitor the thoroughfares adjacent to the stadium.

The crowd will not be allowed to take anything except water along with them at the time of entering the ground.

Around 32 doctors would be present at the Nehru Stadium on November 5 till the end of the match. Apart from this, three ambulances, two of which will have critical care unit, and several number of para-medical staffs would be kept ready at the stadium.

Two hospitals in the city -- Gauhati Medical College Hospital and MMC Hospital -- would be ready for service on November 5. Ten beds, including one at ICU at the Gauhati Medical College, would be reserved for the entire day.

There would be three make shift camps at the venue where doctors and para medical staffs would be available. Two of the camps would be inside the ground and the third one would be at the gallery number nine.

Apart from this, a temporary clinic, equipped with different equipments, would remain open throughout the day at the Bimala Prasad Chaliha Swimming pool. Any spectator requiring treatment during the match could come straight to the clinic and if required, after providing first aid, they would be shifted to the hospital.

Separate medical arrangements would be available for the two teams even during their stay at the hotels. Doctors’ service would be provided round the clock in the hotel and one separate room would be kept for them in each hotel.

Source: The Sentinel

Sikkim Governor’s Gold Cup

Results of Nov 2:

1. Bhutan XI vs Tibetam NFA 3-0
Scorers: Gyeltshen (27), Wangay Dorje (38, 61)

2. Punjab Police vs Mumbai United (0-0; 6-5 on penalties)

Indian Idol show affects Gold Cup schedule:

With Indian Idol Prashant Tamang scheduled to perform at Paljor Stadium at Gangtok on November 5, the first semi-final of the All India Governor’s Gold Cup will be postponed by a day.

At the programme, Sikkim chief minister Pawan Chamling will release Prashant’s first music album.

Sony Entertainment is going to release 30,000 CDs of Prashant’s songs and will keep the proceeds of 20,000 CDs, each priced at Rs 150. The remaining 10,000 will be given to the local organisers, who will use the proceeds to pay off their BSNL telephone bills, which ran into lakhs when they had voted en-masse for Prashant to help him win the talent hunt contest.

While the news of Prashant’s visit will bring cheers to music-lovers in the state, members of the Sikkim Football Association (SFA) are worried about the potential financial losses of hosting two semi-finals on the same day (November 6).

SFA said this would mean a loss of around Rs 7 lakh from gate receipts alone.
Efforts to postpone the Prashant show had failed because Chamling will be unavailable after November 5.

Gold Cup not drawing Gangtok crowd:

The annual Governor’s Gold Cup usually draws a huge number of people to the Paljor Stadium.

But, according to reports, the strength of spectators this year has dramatically come down as compared to previous years.

There area a number of reasons for this, including the exclusion of big teams, unanticipated hike in the entry fee and dearth of publicity campaign.

The delay from the side of the state Home Department in issuing a circular to grant all government offices, institutions, schools and colleges half-holidays during the day of the matches right from the beginning of the Gold Cup has also contributed to the low crowd at the stadium.

SFA, on the other hand, said the entry fee has been increased by Rs 5 for both single and doubles matches and this was done considering the money spent on the teams everything from food, lodging and transportation to game fee and other miscellaneous expenses.
Besides, the rate for entry tickets has been revised after a gap of nearly seven years.

The Association at present charges Rs 25 from the earlier rate at Rs 20 per head for the hillside gallery and Rs 30 for double matches.

Similarly, for the southern and northern gallery, the rates have gone up as high as Rs 40 for single and Rs 50 for double matches alongside Rs 50 for single and Rs 70 for double matches for viewers interested in taking a seat in the western gallery. As for the VIP gallery, the entry fee remains the same at Rs 200.

The organisers, it seems, also failed to publicise the event like the earlier years. For instance, the use of mobile vans to inform the public about the daily highlight could not be done owing to the Code of Conduct.

Lack of floodlights in the premise of Paljor Stadium was another reason that annoyed the people. The 2nd quarter final match played between Chittagaon Abahoni (Bangladesh) and Punjab Police had to be called off due to absence of light.

Moreover, the electronic score board installed last and priced at Rs 50 Lakhs still does not function.

Source: The Sikkim Times

Manipur Sports Snippets

36th Nehru Junior Hockey in New Delhi:

Nov. 1: Young Pioneers School, Imphal, vs Sainik School, Bijapur, Karnataka 8-1;
Scorers: YP: Wangamba Singh (4 goals), Rabikanta (2), C Ayananda Singh, Amerjit Goswami (one each); SS: P A Dandappa Gouda

NCC Directorate (North East) beat Gyandeep School, Gandhinagar, 4-2
Scorers: NCC: W Chitra Singh (2), N G Sanayaima Singh, N Maheshwar Singh (one each); GS: Sanjay Kushwaha (2)

GV Mavlankar Shooting:

Oct. 31: H Sanahal Singh of Manipur has won the gold medal in .177 peep sight air rifle 10 metre men's individual event in the ongoing 18th All India GV Mavlankar Shooting Competition at Agra.

Sanahal clinched the yellow metal with a total of 386 points out of a possible score of 400.

Sikkim Governor’s Gold Cup

Nov. 1 (Pre-quarters): 1. NRT, Nepal vs JCT Academy 2-1
Scorers: NRT: Anil Gurung (35, 111); JCT: L Lima (54)
2. (Quarter-finals): Nigerian Eagles vs BJS Bangladesh 2-1
Scorers: NE Freeman Egmon (3), Nkenchor Ifeanyi (75); BJS Liton (65)

Oct 31(Pre-quarters): Punjab Police vs Chittagaon FPWA, Bangladesh, 4-3 (penalties)
Scorers:

Oct 30 (Pre-quarters): Nigerian Eagles vs Sikkim Police 3-0
Scorers: Felix Aigiojano (49), Charles Egware (63), Oyoh Emmanuel (83)

Oct 29 (Preliminaries): Tibetan National Football Academy (TNFA), Dehradun vs IWDFA Manipur 1-0
Scorer: Tshering Dhondup (74th)

Oct 28 (Preliminaries): 1. Sikkim Police vs Darjeeling Gorkha HC 4-1
Scorers: SP: LB Lamichaney (4, 80), Sisir Karthok (67), Bhupen Lama (89); DG Lakpa Lepcha (38)
2. Punjab Police vs Assam State Electricity Board 1-0
Scorer: Gurpreet Singh (10)

Oct 27 (Preliminaries): JCT Academy vs SFA XI 3-1
Scorers: JCT: Jagpreet Singh (6, 29), L Zira (59); SFA: Dawa Lepcha(71)